


Behind my face

by ImagineYourself



Series: Lumos [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Cedric Centric, First Kiss, M/M, Rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-05
Updated: 2016-10-05
Packaged: 2018-08-19 15:42:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8214842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImagineYourself/pseuds/ImagineYourself
Summary: Just another rewrite; Cedric doesn't go to the graveyard and he lives to return to Hogwarts.. . .   The cup was glowing faintly in the foggy dimness of the maze and Harry could see the reflection in Cedric's eyes when the older boy turned towards it. Their smiles faded and Harry felt a chill down his spine as he dropped his hands, Cedric doing the same. It was as if they hadn't realized they were touching.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [OctopusHotdogs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OctopusHotdogs/gifts).



> This is the first part in a rewrite series of _Order of the Phoenix_ I've been working on for a long time. I have no idea how many parts I will end up actually finishing and being able to post. But the Hedric tag is always lacking so I'm making my contributions for myself and my bros, however slowly.

Harry's hand was clasped tightly in Cedric's as they ran towards the cup. They made it to safety within seconds but Harry could have sworn they'd been running, fighting for hours. Their hands clutched each other's arms and they stood a moment, just breathing. Harry grinned suddenly, panting.

Cedric broke first, laughing with the abandon only a man who has escaped death can. The Gryffindor followed after and they bent over each other with bouts of giggles making their bellies ache. It was moments later, when they'd calmed enough to simply smile and catch their respective breaths again, that Harry remembered why they were there in the first place.

The cup was glowing faintly in the foggy dimness of the maze and Harry could see the reflection in Cedric's eyes when the older boy turned towards it. Their smiles faded and Harry felt a chill down his spine as he dropped his hands, Cedric doing the same. It was as if they hadn't realized they were touching.

“We made it,” he breathed.

“Yeah.” Cedric was looking at him with an unreadable expression.

“Take it,” Harry told him quietly, their gazes unwavering.

Cedric opened his mouth but nothing came out. He let out a breath. “Harry, it's yours.”

Potter shook his head, sweaty hair flopping over his forehead. “No, I can't, you deserve it.”

“This is no time for chivalry. You saved me, take it.” With a rueful smile, Cedric stepped around him, back towards the tall hedge.

“Cedric, I'm not even the true Hogwarts Champion, you should be—”

“Stop arguing,” Cedric cut him off, latching onto his arm with the hand not currently grasping his wand. Harry looked about to say something more, but Cedric pulled him in and planted a bruising kiss on his mouth, their teeth almost knocking together with the force of it. Gasping against him, Harry froze, and Cedric pulled away not two seconds later. His cheeks were flushed, he knew, and he was grinning like a fool. Before Harry could say another word, Cedric was shoving him back, forcing the fourth year to put his hands out behind him, catching himself on the cup itself as Cedric let go.

Harry disappeared almost immediately, a bewildered expression across his face. The smile fell from Cedric's lips as he tried to jump forward and catch onto the boy, but he fell into the dirt instead. Sitting up in panic, he looked around with fearful eyes.

“Harry!” he called, voice frantic. “Harry?” With absolutely no grace, he shouted the first spell that came to mind and was half-surprised that it shot red sparks into the air. Cedric hugged his knees and waited, eyes glued to the spot Harry had disappeared.

 

* *

*

 

Harry was returned to the field much later and the band kicked itself up, even as Cedric was running down the stands, leaving his father behind and pushing past Dumbledore himself to get to where Harry was stumbling around, yelling something. As he grew closer, he could hear what Harry was shouting. Cedric's father was calling behind him but he couldn't hear over Harry's words.

“He's back! He's back!” The crowd quieted enough when they realized something was amiss, in time to hear another call of “Voldemort's back!” before Harry collapsed on the ground, the portkey-cup laying next to him. The boy was on his stomach, now half-conscious and bleeding profusely from one arm.

“Harry! Harry can you hear me?” Cedric cried in dismay, dropping to his knees and trying to turn the kid over. “Harry, please.” Behind him, the crowd started screaming, erupting into chaos that was simply background to the rush of blood in Cedric's ears.

“Cedric?” Harry's voice was strained as he squinted up at him. Dumbledore was suddenly there on Harry's other side. “Voldemort... he's—”

Dumbledore nodded solemnly to show he understood and got to his feet, leaving Cedric to cradle the boy's head. “What happened?” Cedric asked, nearly delirious. Harry choked on breath as Moody barged over suddenly and grasped his arm to tug him up.

“Hey, wait!” the Hufflepuff protested, reaching for Harry's other arm but shying away when he realized it was his injured one, not wanting to hurt him further. Moody took the moment to drag Harry up and support the boy to start carrying him away. Cedric made a move to go after them but a hand landed on his shoulder. He turned to see Karkaroff with an unreadable expression, the man letting go of him almost as soon as their eyes met. “What are—?”

Karkaroff smiled and told him, “It's good you made it back safely.” With that, he turned away and joined Dumbledore with Fudge, the adults all gathered around each other and trying to calm the crowd.

Cedric was concerned with the short exchange and turned back where Harry had been dragged away, but both Harry and Moody were out of sight. Cedric's eyes scanned the area but he could find no trace, the noise of the panicked crowd starting to drown out even his own pounding heartbeat. He turned to look at Dumbledore and found the headmaster stepping lightly towards him.

With a hand on his shoulder, Dumbledore asked calmly, “Where is Harry?”

“Moody took him,” Cedric exclaimed, a slow frenzy starting to shorten his breath. “I don't know—I didn't—”

“Cedric, it's alright.” Dumbledore's voice was gentle and he steered the boy towards his group. “Minerva, Severus, I believe we have a boy to find.” McGonagall and Snape looked to him, the former with confusion and the latter with distaste. Amos Diggory finally made his way up and heard Dumbledore's last words.

“I'm coming, too,” Cedric insisted, looking the headmaster dead in the eyes. Dumbledore's beard twitched and he nodded. Wand grasped tightly in his hand, Cedric looked between the professors and clenched his jaw.

His father caught his arm. “Cedric, this could be dangerous! I won't allow you to risk your life again!”

Cedric shook him off. “Harry saved my life in the maze. I owe it to him at the very least. I can help.” McGonagall and Snape were already leaving, Dumbledore beside them. With one last glance at his flabbergasted father, Cedric ran after them and back towards the castle.

 

* *

*

 

He had no trouble keeping up with Dumbledore and the others, but Cedric kept stumbling over his own feet in his haste to be quick. His heart was hammering too loudly though it couldn't be heard over their collective footsteps clicking along the castle floors. Dumbledore led the way and didn't look back at him once. Cedric didn't mind, he was too wrapped up in his own thoughts, panicked as they were.

He was nearly consumed with thoughts of Harry. He worried if the boy was alright. Then he worried why he was so worried. When had he grown to care so much for the fourth year? He had always admired him; The Boy Who Lived was a legend he grew up with, and the feats that Potter had accomplished even during his first few years were nothing less than remarkable. Still his admiration had somehow progressed into fondness and why the hell had he kissed Harry before throwing him to the cup?

The cup.

That was just another on the list of things folding themselves over and over within Cedric's troubled mind. Had he known what would have happened... He would never have let Harry touch it. Maybe if they had claimed the prize together? Cedric shook his head, trying to shake the thoughts loose. He knew logically that it was useless to dwell over such things. He could do nothing to change what had happened, but he could change what was still to come.

With renewed determination, the door to Moody's chambers was blasted open and revealed a scene that drew Cedric's eyes right to the other champion and his feet as well. Dumbledore was casting a spell that he couldn't hear and Harry's lips were moving but Cedric was deaf with relief. He crouched beside where Harry was slumped in a chair and touched his knee and arm. “Harry,” he breathed, voice wrought with emotion he didn't know how to name.

“He's not Moody,” Harry was telling him, or telling Dumbledore—Cedric wasn't too sure. He registered that the professor Harry was naming was being detained by the others. He vaguely understood what not-Moody was blabbering about. But almost all of his attention was focused on Harry, who was finally looking at him with wide eyes. “Cedric?”

“Harry, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry,” Cedric mumbled, hands clasping at Harry's limbs and moving to his knees to look up at the boy's face.

“For what?” Green eyes were swimming with questions before him. Cedric could have laughed.

“If I had known it was a portkey—Harry believe me, I should have known, I—”

Harry twisted towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing tightly. “Cedric, calm down. No one knew. You couldn't have helped.”

“I pushed you into it,” Cedric protested.

“You didn't know,” Harry repeated, steel tinting his eyes now.

“Mr. Diggory.” The sound of his name brought Cedric from his downward spiral and he looked up at Dumbledore. Behind him, Snape and McGonagall were questioning someone decidedly _not_ Mad-Eye Moody. The headmaster's face was as blank as he'd ever seen it. “Would you escort Harry to the hospital wing, I believe Madame Pomfrey should look at his wounds.”

Cedric nodded. “Of course, Professor.” He shook himself lightly and turned back to Harry, standing and holding out a hand which the fourth year took. Cedric wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders, gathering from the boy's movements that he didn't really need a support, but he'd provide one anyway. Harry seemed grateful enough, or at least he wasn't complaining.

They left the room, faint mutterings following them out. Silence accompanied them before long, broken only by their synced steps despite the height difference between them. Cedric wanted to speak but was afraid to, his head finally starting to clear from the hectic place he'd been since Harry's disappearance. With the boy safely tucked into his side, he was starting to realize it was all over.

“Harry...” Cedric started, uncertainty clouding his tone. The other student didn't look at him, eyes on his feet. “I'm sorry. Not—not about the cup, but what I said. I was... worried.”

At that, Harry did look at him, hooded eyes that were bloodshot but beautiful gazing up from under his arm. “Worried?”

Cedric was a little dismayed at the tone in which Harry spoke the single word. “I didn't know if you would be coming back tonight. And then when you returned, I got distracted, and Moody—” Cedric's thoughts were clipped and his mouth wasn't doing much better at making sense. “I was scared I'd lost you again,” he finally whispered, looking at the ground just a few steps ahead.

“Cedric, I—”

The need to know what Harry was about to say burned within Cedric, but they turned a corner and Madame Pomfrey was rushing towards them. Her furrowed brow stopped Harry's words and she fell to fussing about him as soon as she was within arm's reach, taking him from Cedric's side. Harry turned apologetic eyes towards the sixth year which served only to concern Cedric more.

He tried to follow but Madame Pomfrey gave him a glare to rival any fussy mother and shooed him away. “Stay out here, you'll be able to see him soon enough. Tell Dumbledore he'll be right as rain before long,” she told him, shutting the doors to the infirmary promptly.

Cedric stood outside for a long few moments, body slowly unwinding as he willed himself to relax. It was over. Harry was fine. He'd find out what happened once Harry had recovered. But what had Harry been trying to say? The question would haunt him, he thought, at least until he got the nerve to ask about it. With a sigh, Cedric left the wing, thinking he could use a good bath and a change of clothes while he waited.

Harry's voice saying his name echoed in his head like his lone footsteps in the corridor.


End file.
